Blown ash speckles the lightly burnt earth of this gourd shaped Shigaraki vase by Takahashi Shunsai enclosed in the original signed wooden box. It is 11 inches (28 cm) tall, roughly 5 inches (12.5 cm) diameter and in excellent condition, stamped on the base Shunsai.
Born in 1927, the second son of renowned potter Takahashi Rakusai III in Shigaraki, Shunsai left home to study under Taniguchi Ryosai in Kyoto before returning to Shigaraki to pursue his studies of Shigaraki styles specifically under his father and spent the better part of two decades working from that studio. He established his own kiln in 1968. He has been displayed at the Nitten, Nihon Dento Kogei Ten (National Traditional Crafts Exhibition), Nihon Togei ten (National Ceramics Exhibition), Asahi Ceramics Exhibition, as well as a long list of private exhibitions at Japanís top galleries. He has been often prized as a master of Shigaraki, and has been designated a Shiga Prefectural Intangable Cultural Property (Treasure) in 1995.